TOPIC: Blu ray first run

It is amazing to me how many first run films are now available on Blu-ray , granted it's from smaller studios, with day and date VOD releases most of those pictures are available on Blu-ray as well as DCP.

people who want to see these films want to see them in a theatre...the smaller distribs avoid the whole VPF deal and are finding success... it is also why there are more of these smaller lounge like theatres...

Hey, could someone please point me in the direction of the small distributors doing bluray first runs?? - one of those aspiring small lounge type theatres. I've only been able to find 2 so far. I would kill for a list...

I would almost say that the rule is: the smaller the picture/ the smaller the distributor/ the more likely to be a VOD or art house etc.... the more likely it will be on BluRay. I would assume they have it on Blu Ray.

Well, this is an interesting response from one of the small arthouse film distributors (titles deleted to protect identity of distributor)...

"At the moment I probably couldn't make dates in your city for ****** and ****** because we do have a longtime customer there (we also have *********** which we're opening in NYC tomorrow--would you like to see a link?) but as we start to open in Northern California I would certainly be willing to discuss the two others."

What I'm confused about is there being a "long time customer" in my city. There are no theatres in our county that have played any of this distributor's films for at least the past 10 years when the last arthouse theatre here was bought out by a large chain that only plays blockbusters. The closest place to see any of their films is 6 hours away from what I've been able to gather, in the San Francisco area. I don't mind waiting a bit as long as it's before a movie hits DVD, but now I'm intrigued about this long time customer in my city who's getting dibs on films but never playing any of them... ???

I'd ask "who is that?" nicely.... keep in mind you are establishing a relationship. If it starts out bitchy it can stay bitchy. You want to schmooze these people not annoy them. Often they have zero ideas of mileage or nearness and they'll think you are far closer or further from somewhere than you are. So... talk to them... tell them how far away another theatre is... now long it takes to drive there... often people in NYC and LA think in terms of driving time and it has no relationship to mileage. IE to drive from Coney Island to Yonkers could take 3 hours but in Maine that's a 25-30 minute drive.